The deadline is here for anyone purchasing a dell computer. The deadline states that on June 17th you will no longer be able to buy XP preinstalled on your computer. The dead line comes from a move Microsoft is trying to make that will phase out XP and make everyone switch over to Vista.

Is this the end of XP as we know it? The answer is no, Dell has found a way to still offer XP preinstalled on there Business Line computers.

Dell is offering the “buy Vista, get XP Pro preinstalled” service on Precision systems for free. It also offers it on its Vostro line and Optiplex line, but it will cost you $99 for XP Pro. All models will have to pay an extra $50 for XP Ultimate.

Microsoft cannot be happy about this, but you can note that even though they are getting XP Microsoft can tally it as a sale for Vista.